Skyfever – Signs

STADIUM ROCK IS SETTING THE TONE FOR 2018, with The Rolling Stones, Queen, Europe,Def Leppard and U2 all playing dates in Ireland this year.No strangers to hearing their music filling 80,000-seater stadiums, Skyfever return with their second EP Rear View Mirror, kicking off with the raucous lead single, Signs.

Last year saw the Irish rockers break through in a big way, with their music being selected for play by George Sephton at Anfield and by the Carolina Panthers to fill the 75,000 seater Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Legendary rocker Alice Cooper is a fan, and last year he endorsed the band by not only playing their track, The Returning, to listeners of his worldwide-syndicated radio show, Nights with Alice Cooper, but also by personally sharing their track on social media and praising their talent. In fact, radio stations across the USA have recognised Skyfever and they have been played on stations from Philadelphia (WCLH) to Chicago (WZRD) to Nashville, Tennessee (Under the Gun Radio).

The UK has got behind Skyfever too, with Jim Gellatly (Amazing Radio) playing their music and the renowned Fred Perry Subculture website name-checking them alongside Otherkin, Heathers and Squarehead as ‘Top 20 Dublin Bands to Watch’.

Skyfever’s success hasn’t happened by accident. Skyfever, driven by lead guitarist Tyson Harding (more about the origin of that name later…), are hell-bent on success and have the work ethic and mindset to go with it. Get Out blaring over Anfield’s speakers as Liverpool FC lined up in the tunnel? Tyson remembers Oasis used to advertise in football magazines and took a punt on a similar tactic.

“I never expected George ‘Voice of Anfield’ Sephton to play our music but we went for it that’s what happened!” says Tyson. “George was one of the first to believe in us and he now regularly playlists our music.”

AliceCooper personally getting behind us and describing us as ‘talented minions’ was, believe it or not, a big coup too!” “There’s momentum at play here and we feel unstoppable,” says Luke Lang, the man responsible for those big, foundation-shaking vocals. “We’ve all been through tough times and persevered, so this simultaneously feels like it’s crept up on us and like it’s been a long time coming.”

Perseverance and winning are in guitarist Tyson Harding’s blood. As the grandson of Olympic boxer Fred Tiedt, Tyson’s sporting influences are plentiful.

“I got my competitive streak from my grandfather, for sure,” says Tyson. “That’s where my mindset comes from. I realised from an early age that you if you want to be the best at something, you have to work extra hard to attain it.”

Although he applies that ethos of hard work and dedication to music, sport has continued to pervade Tyson’s life in a way that makes it seem serendipitous. His uncle, Emile Tiedt, was Conor McGregor’s boxing referee in his training camp for that record-smashing fight between McGregor and Floyd Mayweather.

“Conor McGregor has made a huge impression on me,” says Tyson. “Whatever about the flash persona; his unbreakable, stoic mindset has got him to where he is, his is a story of someone who had the courage to build, protect and chase his dream and enjoy the journey as well.”

Skyfever are:

Luke Lang on vocalsBrian Clarke on guitar/sounds
Tyson Harding on guitarCau Marini on bass and Karl Hand on drums.